Tears of Twilight
by SlayersFan132
Summary: After destroying the Mirror of Twilight and heading back to her realm, Midna has to recover from both sickness and a broken heart. But when a simple speech to her people goes to something completely new, Midna finds herself wishing that she just hadn't said anything about the world of Light at all...
1. Chapter 1

**Tears of Twilight, Prologue.**

**Summary: After destroying the Mirror of Twilight and heading back to her realm, Midna has to recover from both sickness and a broken heart. But when a simple speech to her people goes to something completely new, Midna finds herself wishing that she just hadn't said anything about the world of Light at all...**

**A/N: Okay, so after I thought of the idea for this story, I wasn't sure whether I should leave it as a oneshot or take it farther and...you know, delve deeper into the story. So, I consulted one of my best friends who writes on another website and she said I should make it have more chapters right away, only hearing the general gist of it. So this will have...hmm...tentatively, it will have about 5 chapters, but I may change that number later on. It won't be too long, but I'll try to figure this out...**

**Anyway, let it begin...**

_Twilight._

_A word that comes to mind when we speak of the crossing between dawn and dusk. A word used to describe the dying rays of sunlight, the flickering beams of moonlight just starting to appear, the hazy cloud of orange that hovers on the horizon._

_Twilight._

_To us, it is simply a time, a time in which our world seems to connect to another and life meets death, shadow meets light. A time when Power meets Courage, and their brawl lasts until complete darkness, only to start again the next day._

_Let us meet she who rules over the land of Twilight, she who watches these battles between Power and Courage, she who holds herself responsible for events such as this._

_Midna of the Twili, let us follow in your footsteps, let us listen to your thoughts and hear what you have to say..._

I land safely in the Twilight Realm, even after the Mirror of Twilight's destruction. I close my eyes and curse the goddesses. Why must they make everything so difficult? Why did they create something so dangerous, only to destroy it, especially when it's done so much not only to save Hyrule, but to protect the Twilight Realm, too?

Why did we have to part? Why did it have to be like this? _Why?_ That's my only question!

I choke on my own ragged breath and try to get to my feet, failing miserably and collapsing to the ground. As my tears drop softly onto the ground, I try to look around, but my vision is so blurred I can hardly see over the orange haze of Twilight.

And then, somehow, I fall unconscious.

Trauma, dizziness, I'll never know. I just know that I've come back to my people, in exchange for a terrible price: my heart.

I hear a soothing voice trying to speak to me through the befuddled, groggy seas of my brain. I can't quite understand what they're saying, not yet, but I know that they've been trying to reach me for a while.

_I must look terrible,_ I think unconsciously before finally finding the strength to open my eyes. Beside me stands the tallest Twili in all of the Twilight Realm. Her piercing blue eyes sparkle with renewed strength after a long battle, while I'm sure my own battle left me looking as though I just climbed out of the sewers.

This Twili happens to be my nursemaid, Dawn. She's been with me ever since my birth, and really, she's my closest friend.

I'm just not sure about that now, though. Being a ruler who abandoned her people, there's no telling how many friends I have lost...

"Princess, are you okay?" she asks, laying a cool washcloth on my forehead.

I try to reply to her, I truly do, but the only sound I can make is a tortured moan. My head feels like it's split in two and then mended itself together again, and I can tell that I have a fever.

"No, shh, it's okay, you don't need to speak, Princess. It's okay. I understand. You've been through a lot," Dawn murmurs sweetly, as though she's speaking to an animal rather than one of her own kind. For some reason, however, it doesn't bother me.

"Dawn...you...deserve..."

"To know? I'm sure I really don't, Princess. Whatever happened to you is surely way over my head, no matter how tall I may be. I'm just glad you managed to get back down to us," she replies, combing through my hair with her fingers. I really love and appreciate her, for all she has done to help me in years past.

My bottom lip trembles, and I bite down on it to keep from shedding another tear. Dawn murmurs, "Oh, Princess, don't cry. Please, don't cry." This doesn't help matters, however, as her tone just makes me even more depressed and my mind strays off to Hyrule.

I hear myself whisper his name rather than feel it. I know my lips are moving, but they aren't moving of my own accord, and I cannot feel them doing so.

"Link..."

After a week of intense medical care, in which we discovered that I had come down with some unknown disease that didn't appear to be dangerous and actually was (which was named Hyla), I am finally ready to greet my people for the first time since I left.

"My beloved people, the Twili," I call over the crowd, "I am sorry that I abandoned you during your time of need. It was more difficult for me than you, I assure each and every one of you. Times were hard; I was driven by fear, and anger towards Zant, he who drove me so. I know I should not have left you, but...perhaps it was for the best."

"P-Princess, why is that?" someone calls nervously.

Trying to smile, I reply, "I met the divine beast, who came here to our realm not three days ago. Dusk, I'm sure you remember him."

Dusk, the Twili that I address, blinks before widening his eyes and exclaiming, "The hero clad in green! Yes! He was the divine beast?"

"Yes, quite," I say. "He shall be written in our texts as the Hero of Twilight, now and forevermore. I'm afraid, however, that he cannot visit. He cannot come to this world ever again."

"Why?" a little girl asks, so small that I can hardly see her.

I bite my lip again to restrain myself from producing even a single tear. It shouldn't be this hard.

When I feel everyone turn their gazes to meet mine, I finally look back up, meeting them all dead in the eye. "He cannot visit because I have destroyed the Mirror of Twilight, to protect not only our Hero, but us as well."

No matter how I try to clarify, everyone is surprised, and even angry among a few. They even begin to yell. Finally Dawn, who has stayed at my side the entire time, yells, "Silence!"

Everyone is so surprised that they all grow quiet.

Twill, an elder among the Twili, raises her thin, delicate arm and asks to speak. When I nod, she begins, "Princess Midna, things have changed, people have changed, even. Our land is now much different than it was before. But altogether, the thing that has changed most is how you act now, towards us. I remember a time when I worked in the castle, before I retired, when you used to scold everyone, demand that they do it right or lose their jobs, maybe even their lives. Now, however, you have lost your fire. I'm sure that two measly weeks ago you would have killed one of us if we protested like that to you. Today you wait for us to quiet down, and I'm sure you have forced yourself not to cry on multiple occasions. It is not sickness that is eating away at you, is it? What has happened to you, Princess?"

I meet her gaze steadily, and when I speak I can hear my voice ringing through the crowd, bouncing from ear to ear, every word gathering in their thoughts. "The world of Light holds many beautiful things. Flowers just blooming out of their buds, fairies fluttering along in the wind, rain pattering onto the ground and starting new life. Among all of these things, however, there is only one that is truly beautiful. It is the kindness and generosity in the hearts of the people, every single person in all of their land. I have seen it in the princess that I so despised. I have seen it, too, in the Hero of Twilight." Turning my head to look off at the hazed, twilit sun, I blink and feel the tears start streaming down my face, met with no resistance. "Link, the Hero of Twilight, the one who saved my life and all of yours. At first I thought of him as merely a pawn, a chess piece to be sacrificed. But then...But then, when I fell ill from overexposure to the Light, and he was trapped in his sacred form for possibly all eternity, he thought of me first. He took me to Princess Zelda, who sacrificed herself, like a pawn, to protect me rather than leave me to die for all that I did to taunt her, to make her feel ashamed of who she was. And no one could guarantee that we would be able to restore the Hero to his original form, but he saved me anyway. He didn't have to."

I look back at my people, who are all watching with depressed expressions on their faces.

"He could have left me to die. I'm sure that the threat would have gone away after long enough. Zant went mad even before we killed him. I certainly would have died, had he and his princess not helped me." Closing my eyes and ceasing the tears, I whisper, "Hyrule is such a beautiful place..." I open my eyes again and meet those of my questioner. "What is beauty? Is it when something is merely appealing to the eye?"

A murmur spreads through the crowd, banishing the silence. "No," Twill replies almost immediately. "True beauty...true beauty would be how they act towards other people, their kindness, their virtues in general."

"Virtues." I turn my orange-eyed gaze back to her. "Yes, their virtues are what truly define their characters. Tell me, Twill, have you heard of the Triforce?"

She shakes her head slowly, and I tilt my own to the stars above, where light meets shadow, raising a hand up to it. "Back when the goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore created the world of Light, they felt something was imperfect. None of them could figure it out; not Power, Wisdom, nor Courage. So together, as one decision among the sisters, they left behind a part of themselves, in hopes that one day the people of the Light world would find out what the imperfection was and fix it."

"Do you know what it was?" someone asks.

I look over at him and smile. "Of course I do. The imperfection was perfection itself. These three sisters knew nothing but perfection, and so when they created this planet, they felt that it was wrong somehow. The Triforce, in fact, solved the problem quite nicely." I lower my hand to pick a small, pale orange flower and twirl it in my fingers. "War broke out to take control of this sacred triangle, each of the three sections blessed by the three sisters. When these goddesses realized the trouble they caused, they separated the triangle and blessed specific people with each piece."

"Who?" Dusk asks.

I close my eyes and breathe the fragrant scent of the flower. "Din, the goddess of Power, blessed the Dark Lord Ganondorf with the Triforce of Power, which gave him both magical and physical strength, able to overwhelm almost anyone in a battle. But, naturally, he was overly brave. So brave, in fact, that he became foolhardy, and it was his downfall. I no longer know where the Triforce of Power is.

"Nayru, the goddess of Wisdom, blessed Princess Zelda with the Triforce of Wisdom. Because she was naturally intelligent, Zelda became truly wise, the smartest person in all of Hyrule. She had more bravery than her knights, but not as much as would fit her, and her level of power was pathetic, really. She had a great magical prowess, but all in all, she was not very strong.

"Finally, there was Farore, the goddess of Courage, who blessed the Hero, Link, with the Triforce of Courage. Link towered above everyone with his Courage, and his strength surpassed all but Ganondorf's. Likewise, his intelligence was second only to Princess Zelda's. All in all, he was the strongest, bravest, and smartest man in all of Hyrule. Of course, even after blessing all three of these people, separating the burden, Ganondorf was the one to cause problems. He wanted total control over the Triforce, which by now was no more than a legend and a birthmark. He began to hunt down the Triforce's possessors." Turning my gaze down to Dusk, I say, "Naturally, the princess was the damsel in distress, of course. So that left Link to save the princess from the villain and live happily ever after, correct?" My expression becomes bitter and regretful. "I'm afraid I have fallen in love with him, and will give my heart to no other."

Dawn whispers, "Princess, then why did you break the Mirror?"

For some reason, I feel anger instead of sorrow, and I snap, "I had to protect Hyrule. There was no other way! I didn't think it mattered if they were safe while I suffered, do you understand now? If our lands are both safe, I don't care what happens to me! I won't go back to that heartless queen, never again."

Silence once again replaces the noise. I hear sobbing, and when I look back at the Twili, I see that they're all crying. Crying for me. Crying for what I have done to protect them, to protect both of our worlds, with the cost of my happiness.

I watch something truly amazing happen: their tears are running with each other, sloping lightly uphill towards me. My eyes widen, and I exclaim, "What...What's happening?!"

"We have all wished the same thing, Princess," Dawn replies, wiping her own tears from her face. "We have wished for you to return to your Hero, and so it shall be."

"No..." I choke out. "We can't leave something like this for our enemies to use!"

Twill calls, "We aren't. Our minds are as one, we Twili. Together we have wished for you to return to the world of Light. Our wishes are a one-way ticket to your happiness, Princess."

"Go through the portal," Dusk urges me. "Go to the one you love."

"I can't leave you all here without a ruler!" I practically scream, my desperate cries creating my own tears, which open the portal completely. I want to go, I really do, but I can't leave them...

Dawn places a hand on my shoulder and murmurs in my ear, "We will not remain. This land will fall apart, and we're glad of it."

"Dawn..."

"Now go, Midna, before we decide to change our minds!" she exclaims, giving me a gentle nudge towards the portal.

I fall directly through their sheet of tears, screaming the whole way.

"You can't do this to yourselves! I don't care what happens to me! You can't do this!"

Twill's voice echoes through the bridge to Hyrule. _"Midna, just know that you carry our wishes with you, and that we all love you. Have you ever thought, just once...that maybe _we_ care?"_

I land on a grimy floor, in front of a mirror. I watch as all of my people shred to pieces, disappearing. I take hold of the wooden frame and wail, "You can't do this to yourselves! Please!"

I hear heavy footsteps on a ladder, and a familiar voice whispering, "Midna? Is that really you?"

Before I can process all that's happening, the mirror I'm clutching in my arms shatters into millions of pieces, just like the Mirror of Twilight did, cutting my hands and face. But I don't care.

_I don't care what happens to me._ My people are all dead, gone forever. They killed themselves for my sake.

I...what am I supposed to do? How could they just...do this to themselves...? For my sake?

I have to do something about this! A queen can't abandon her people, even if they ruin themselves like this!


	2. Chapter 2

**Tears of Twilight, Chapter One: The Legend Begins.**

**Summary: After destroying the Mirror of Twilight and heading back to her realm, Midna has to recover from both sickness and a broken heart. But when a simple speech to her people goes to something completely new, Midna finds herself wishing that she just hadn't said anything about the world of Light at all...**

**A/N: Okay, so here's the second chapter but the first one, if you get what I mean. Heh. Sorry for the long delay; I didn't have a stable Internet connection. Anyway, go read on...um...don't mind me...I'll just sit here and watch you. O-O (HARRY POTTER!) O-O O-O O-O O-O**

**~Link's POV~**

When I hear yelling down in my basement, I'm extremely surprised. I didn't open the door to anyone, and I'm sure I exterminated all the pests down there...

I jog over to the ladder and drop down. What I see surprises me.

"Midna? Is that really you?" I whisper. I watch as the mirror in her grasp, strangely not showing her reflection, shatters, and she goes almost completely limp. I catch her just before her head hits the ground, and see that she's still clutching the mirror's frame tightly to her chest.

"Midna...what happened?"

I decide to worry about this later, and instead I gently remove the wooden frame from her grasp, then barely manage to hold her in one arm while I climb up the ladder. I _really_ need stairs...

**~Midna's POV~**

I wake up feeling warm and safe, and for a moment I forget about everything that's happened recently. Then I remember, and shoot up in the bed I'm in. Wait..._bed_? When did I get here? Where am I?

I then recall an extremely familiar voice whispering my name, and widen my eyes.

"Link?!" I cry, looking around wildly. I see a sheet of paper, and written on it are the words, _'Be back in a bit. Running an errand for Rusl.'_

I feel my heart flutter for a few short seconds. Too soon, though, the pain comes back, not just mental but physical, too. I can tell the cuts from the mirror still haven't healed, which means I haven't been asleep for that long and Link somehow knew I would wake up. His intuition scares me sometimes.

I sit up and find my arms covered almost completely in ghostly white bandages, which are a pale pink in some places. I sigh in relief. The cuts weren't that bad, and so I should recover soon. But...

...I still can't believe the sacrifice they made for me...it just doesn't seem right. Shouldn't a queen be the one to make sacrifices for her people? But...now I'm not a queen, as there is no land for me to rule.

I'm just an ordinary Twili now: the last of them.

I absentmindedly wonder what Link's up to. Hopefully he'll get back soon...

Less that two seconds after I think this, the door opens and Link walks in, still clad in his green Hero's outfit. Something seems off about him, but I'm not really one to talk right now.

A smile lights up his face when he sees me. "Midna."

"Hi, Link," I mutter. "I told you I'd see you later."

"Yeah, I didn't doubt that. You tend to keep your promises in the strangest way possible." He clears his throat and glances towards the basement, then continues, "What...happened down there?"

I widen my eyes and shake my head frantically. "I...not now, Link. I'll tell you later."

He nods almost immediately, eyes softening. "Okay. I'll wait."

"So...what was that errand for Rusl?" I ask in an attempt to keep the silence at bay.

"I was delivering a package to Hyrule Castle. Hey, doesn't that sound familiar?" He chuckles shortly. Strangely, I think I see his face pale for a moment.

Hesitantly, I inquire, "Link, are you alright?"

He shrugs and replies, "Tired. It was a long trip, even with Epona. I was riding for at least two days straight."

"Why didn't you stop to rest?"

"It was urgent and I was late as it was. Did you know that Uli had a baby girl a couple days after you left?" Link gestures towards his door and says, "I could show you."

I frown. "Stop trying to change the subject. We're talking about you." I stand from the bed and sit Link down on it, resting the back of my hand on his forehead. Immediately I let out what can only be described as a hiss and draw back. "You're burning up! Link, you're seriously sick!"

He sighs faintly. "Midna, the doctor in Castle Town doesn't even know what it is, and he's a doctor, for Din's sake. I can't cure something that I don't know about."

"What are the symptoms?"

He looks surprised, and so I repeat myself. Finally he mutters, "Fever, headache, dizziness...you know, usual stuff. The strangest thing, though, is that sometimes my vision goes completely out and I can't see anything."

My breath hitches. "You have Hyla."

Now he looks bewildered, so I explain. "When I got back to the Twilight Realm, I was sick from a new disease that we called Hyla. At first it appeared harmless, and then, day after day, my vision was starting to go out, and my hearing was following thereafter. It could have gotten much worse, had we not found a cure. It took us forever to reach it, but it should take about five minutes for you."

"And what would this cure be?" Link asks in a deadpan.

"Pumpkin soup with goat milk."

His face harshly collides with the wooden floorboards, but apparently not for the reason I'm thinking of. Instead it's this: "You have goats?"

"They're...pretty weird, and a lot less stupid than yours, but yes, we have goats," I growl in exasperation. "The problem was pumpkins. Luckily, I had some in a traveling bag that I carried around with me everywhere, just in case you got hungry or something (which you never did). So really, you saved my life."

"Great to know. Let's get on that soup, shall we?"

* * *

After having a lunch consisting of pumpkins and goat milk (as well as some chicken...they won't notice!), Link insists on taking me to see Uli and her new daughter. At first I'm unsure, considering my strange appearance, and the fact that I can't hide in his shadow anymore. Then he assures me that they had seen stranger things, like monkeys stealing baskets.

"Fine," I agree. "But if she stares too long I reserve the right to slap someone, specifically you."

"Well, I'm used to it," Link grumbles, opening the door for me. We both climb down the ladder, or rather, Link jumps down and I float down. Really, there is no use of the ladder whatsoever. He needs stairs. Everyone _else_ in Ordon Village has stairs...

I fiddle with my hair, twirling it around my finger while I look around the village with new eyes. Or rather, higher-up eyes. In fact, Link, beside me, is about three inches shorter, and he's pretty tall for his age. What is it, nineteen?

Rolling my eyes at myself, I hear the kids' footsteps approaching, as I have many times before from ground level. I'm reminded vaguely of Kakariko Village, and then the children of the Twili...

_No,_ I tell myself. _They no longer exist. They cannot be a part of your thoughts any longer. Midna, listen to yourself. You're going mad as it is. Hallucinating about children who have died is pointless._

I find that my hands, still twirling my hair around my fingers, have started shaking. I take a deep breath. Link probably has noticed, but I assume he imagines that I'm just nervous around these children, who are such a big part of the village.

"Link, who is this?" Beth, the tallest of the four, asks with dreamy eyes. I can't help but shoot a glare at her. I've always despised her, flirting with every boy she possibly can except Talo, Malo, and Colin. Namely, flirting with Link despite how he so obviously tries to push her away.

"She's an old friend," he replies, glancing away uncomfortably.

Beth rolls her eyes in what she seems to think is playful. I notice that her gaze keeps moving to the muscles in his arms and watching intently. When she sees me watching her every move, she jumps and follows up, "But she can't be that old of a friend if we haven't met her yet."

"I've known him for a year," I answer. "And I've heard all about you, Beth. I know you're cocky by nature, but try not to get too annoying, or I'm afraid I'll have to take disciplinary action." My eyes narrow at her, and some sort of understanding seems to go between us that none of the boys catch.

She gulps and laughs nervously, saying, "W-well, Talo, didn't you say you had something to ask Link?"

"Oh, yeah!" the brunette exclaims suddenly. "I was about to visit you and ask if you were all better, Link!"

Link laughs. "I'm okay, Talo. In fact, Midna was the one to cure me."

"Seriously?" Malo asks almost silently. He observes me with his narrowed green eyes. "She doesn't look like the doctor type."

I feel my anger flare within me, and my eyes feel like they heat up as though they're on fire. Sure enough, the kids flinch away.

"I do what I can," I hiss at them through clenched teeth. "I happened to be the only living person to even know what it is, and to have experienced it personally."

"Really? So you fainted in public like Link did?" Beth asks with a high amount of interest, earning yet another glare.

If looks could kill, Beth would no longer be with us.

As she shrinks away, I reply, "No, the moment I grew weak I was tended to by highly-qualified maids and servants who treated me with great respect."

"Why's that?" Malo drawls lazily, rolling his eyes partially.

Link replies for me. "She's the queen of another country, far away from here. That's why she took so long to get back here." I try not to wince at the word 'queen.'

"So how did you both get sick of the same thing?" Talo asks excitedly.

"We traveled together to stop Ganondorf from destroying Hyrule. We might have caught it then. Now, I'm sure you have plenty of questions, kids, but we need to get going, okay?"

"Where?"

"Why?"

"How?"

We all look over at Talo, and he mutters, "Well, maybe I want to know where you're going, why, and how you're going to get there. Maybe I just think more than those two."

We all burst out laughing. "You, Talo? Thinking more than us?" Beth cries, wiping a tear from her eye. "If anything, you _act_ quicker than we do and think afterwards."

As the kids continue to tease each other, Link and I continue on our way to Uli's.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter three/two here...I'm confusing myself...but oh, well! Anyway, as a reply to a guest review I recently got:**

**ForGG: Thanks, I try to update as fast as possible. I don't think this story will be very long. It was originally planned to be just a oneshot, but after I told my friend about it she thought it should be longer. So I decided to write more on it, and hopefully this chapter won't disappoint you, even if it's basically recap.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess or any of its characters.**

**Tears of Twilight, Chapter Two.**

Link greets Uli on the hillside with a warm smile and 'hello,' and she greets him back. I clear my throat and hold out a hand to her. "Hello. My name is Midna. I've heard much about you, Uli."

What she doesn't know is that I've been there for most of her conversations with Link.

And she stares for quite a while, so I move my hand to slap it straight across Link's face. He rubs his cheek soon afterwards, which quickly turns almost red in color. Uli just stares at me even longer; in fact, she stares long enough for me to want to slap her. When she notices my clenched fist trembling by my side, she glances up to meet my eyes and asks, "I'm afraid I can't say the same about you, Midna. All I know is that you obviously carry the air of royalty. Is it possible you are the ruler of another land?"

I flinch and glance away, but quickly cover up by saying, "A far away land, yes." But this time, Link noticed, and his face shows a flash of concern. But I then ask, "So, Link told me that you've had a new child. May I see her?"

Uli now looks comfortable, although somewhat restrained, and she says, "Of course. Come right in."

The two of us enter the cozy house, consisting of only one room, and Uli carefully lifts a small child from a cradle.

"This is Kiera," she says to me, rocking the baby back and forth in her arms. She softly murmurs a lullaby when her baby begins to awaken. I recognize it from somewhere, but I'm not sure where. Before I know it, Uli is asking me if I'd like to hold Kiera. At first I'm reluctant, but both she and Link insist (kindly, of course). And so, gingerly, I take the small, _human_ child in my arms, staring down into her sweet, innocent face. She groggily opens her eyes and rubs one of them, and I notice that they're a beautiful forest green. Kiera looks up at me for a while, almost as much as her mother did, and I resist the urge to slap Link again. But then the child closes her eyes and leans against me.

I feel a smile cross my face, and I brush thin strands of hair from her face, gently swaying back and forth, like a boat upon a gentle sea.

"She likes you," Uli whispers. "I don't think she's reacted that well to anyone else."

For a moment my eyes water, but I control myself and nod slightly. "Your daughter is beautiful."

The young mother beams at me as I meet her gaze, handing Kiera back to her. A question seems to pop into her mind. "Midna, do you not have a child of your own? Aren't you the ruler of a land?"

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. What a strange question. "No, I am not a mother. I...well, it's...complicated. And...actually, I think I have a few questions for you. Link?"

The Hero tilts his head to the side. I get that he doesn't talk much around other people, and a simple nod of the head or shrug of the shoulders would do better than talking through it.

"Do you think you could...leave the house, for a little while? This is a girl-to-girl conversation." I feel extremely stupid saying this, but hey, a girl has to have some privacy every once in a while, right?

He rolls his eyes, but smirks and leaves anyway. I turn back to Uli and take a deep breath.

"Listen...I'm not from this world. I'm sure you could tell that because of my odd appearance, correct?" She nods, and so I continue to speak. Thank the Golden Goddesses that Uli talks only a little more than Link. "I'm from a land called the Twilight Realm, where we Twili were banished for misusing ancient magic. I have used only a portion of that magic, and even I almost lost control of it. Ever since then, we've founded a kingdom, forgotten our evil ways. The magic was sealed away in a mask, which was then broken into four pieces. Anyway, after Link and I traveled together to stop Ganondorf, the man trying to destroy Hyrule, I went back to the Twilight Realm, and since I'm the ruler, I was able to destroy what bound us together: the Mirror of Twilight." I take a deep breath. "But when I went back and addressed my people, our conversation eventually led to Link. And, naturally, I had to admit that I loved him. A good leader does not keep secrets from her people." Uli looks surprised, but I raise a hand to stop her from saying anything and finish, "They sacrificed their lives for me, so that I could come back here to be with Link. I made the mistake of telling them that I would probably never be happy otherwise. I just don't know what I'm going to tell _him._"

Uli sighs softly, then says, "Midna, I know you've already done this, but I'm going to tell you anyway. If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, then you know it's yours. And that is all I've got to say, fry! If you want to hear it again, throw some more bait on the water. I can't go fighting evil on an empty stomach, y'know!"

I back away slowly and exit the house, then run directly into who I think is Link.

It turns out, however, that it isn't Link, and only when I hear steel against steel do I realize that Ordon must have been invaded once again. The beast in front of me appears to be a Bokoblin, fully clad in armor.

"I thought that I was supposed to settle down after I got here!" I wail, shooting magic from the palm of my hand and hitting it square in the face. Then I glance over to see that Link's fight is coming to an end. He fells the final Bokoblin, but apparently neither of us were being very observant.

From behind him, as if appearing out of nowhere, something raises a long arm and smacks him directly on the head.

"_Link!_" I cry, teleporting as fast as I can directly to Link and the monster.

I gasp when I find out that it's King Bulblin, the monster that gave us that key way back in Hyrule Castle. His gnarled green face is as gruesome as ever, and, like always, the horns sticking from the sides of his head are uneven and twisted, sickly yellow in color.

My face hardens into a scowl as I appear directly between he and Link's unconscious form. "I thought you fight for the strongest side," I say, glaring daggers at the beast.

"True," it replies slowly. "But now, we going hungry. Need protein." It pats its suddenly small gut and turns to look at Mayor Bo, who has come out of his house to see what the commotion is about. "Maybe he good..."

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" I shout. A blast of red magic shoots from my open palm and blasts King Bulblin off to who-knows-where. I hope he dies in the desert.

Mayor Bo approaches hurriedly and asks, "What happened to Link?!"

"He took a blow to the head," I reply coolly. "It's nothing too serious." _I hope._ "But I should probably check, just in case. I should be able to heal it. If not, we'll just take him to the spring."

I crouch down beside Link and stroke his hair away from his head, wincing when I see fresh blood. Luckily, however, it's not much, and I find that the wound isn't deep. I heal it easily with a low-level healing spell. The Mayor thanks me for my hope, and Ilia, who has just come out, curtsies and says, "Thank you, Twilight Princess."

I tilt my head to the side and ask, "What do you mean by that?" By now we're walking down the path to Link's house, and Mayor Bo is right ahead of us, lugging Link over his huge shoulder.

"Link told me that you're the princess of Twilight. I'm not stupid. I remembered much more about the Twilight Realm than most people did. I saw you multiple times, riding on a dark wolf's back. Link told me that wolf was him. Was it really? And you _rode _him?"

Mayor Bo apparently hears the worst part of our conversation, and turns around with a disapproving look on his face. "Ilia? What's this about?"

"Daddy, you just took that out of context. Midna and I were talking about dogs. Very big dogs." She looks nervous, and even I shrink back a little. He looks extremely threatening with an unconscious swordsman flung over his shoulder and a scowl on his face with his eyes closed tightly. I still don't know how he can see anything...

When Ilia's words register in his mind, he nods and begins walking again.

The two of us look at each other and burst out laughing.


End file.
